Wednesday, March 29, 2017

2017-03-20 20th Anniversary Celebration Week #2

20--Mar-2017

MONDAY  This is one of my personal favorites, mainly because I noticed it when it first happened.
Q.        Seven (7) people in uniform for the 1993 World Series won a World Series MVP during the courses of their careers.  Name them.
Hint:     Some were before 1993
Hint:     Some were after 1993
Hint:     Some were (one was) 1993
A.        
WS      MVP                            Notes:
1955    JOHNNY PODRES  First WS MVP w/BRO-PHI pitching coach in ‘93
1972    GENE TENACE      1st w/2 HR for OAK 1st WS ABs-TOR bench coach
1989    DAVE STEWART   2-0 w/1.69 ERA in 1989 WS for OAK in sweep        
1991    JACK MORRIS       Took charge of 7th G of 1991 WS for MIN
1992    PAT BORDERS      Unlikely leader of unlikely WS champs:  TOR in 1992
1993    PAUL MOLITOR    Was on 2nd base when Joe Carter homered in 1993
2001    CURT SCHILLING  Co-winner in 2001 w/Johnson as D-Backs vanquish NYY
FCR -  Tom Cuggino, Wheaton, Illinois
Incorrect answers: 

TUESDAY  Stephen Barnes down in Phoenix thinks we might be stumped by this one:
Q.        Name the last switch-hitter to receive the American League Most Valuable Player Award.
Hint:     Since then, six different ambidextrous hitters have been voted MVP in the National League.
Hint:     He won other awards as well that same year.
A.         VIDA BLUE 1971 OAK; 24-8, 1.82 ERA, 301 Ks, 8 ShO, 0.952 WHIP (also Cy Young Award winner - duh)
Last six NL switch-hitting MVPs:
-  Pete Rose, 1973
-  Willie McGee, 1985
-  Terry Pendleton, 1991
-  Ken Caminiti, 1996
-  Chipper Jones, 1999
-  Jimmy Rollins, 2007
FCR -  Doug Greenwald, San Francisco
Incorrect answers:  Frank Robinson, Eddie Murray, Mickey Mantle, Dave Stewart

TUESDAY #2  Dan DiNardo of Narbeth, Pennsylvania and Tom Missett from Southington, Connecticut BOTH gave us this doozy to chew on:
Q.        Who is the only player that was active, and, in a uniform, at four different
games where a player hit 4 HRs?
Hint:     He’s a diminutive right hander from Astoria, NY.
Hint:     He started 3 WS games in subway series play, W2, L1.
Hint:     He once said (paraphrasing him) "don't want to win 20 games, they will
expect it every year."
A.         BILLY LOES
Hitter                   Big Day            Loes’s team & involvement
Gil Hodges         31-Aug-1950      Dodger; DNP
Joe Adcock        31-Jul-1954        Dodger; DNP
Ricky Colavito    10-Jun-1959       Oriole; DNP
Willie Mays         30-May-1961      Giant; Pitched a complete-game victory
FCR -  Michael Green, Las Vegas
Incorrect answers:  Jack Sanford, Hoyt Wilhelm, Spud Chandler, Tug McGraw, Whitey Ford, Mickey Mantle, Mike Stanton, Preacher Roe

WEDNESDAY  Professor John Rickert from Terre Haute, Indiana makes us do our homework to get this one:
Q.        Who were the 4 players to make their major league pitching debut when they were past their 40th birthday?
Hint:     One is a Hall of Famer.
Hint:     Another is certain to be a Hall of Famer on his first ballot.
Hint:     One is a former World Series MVP.
Hint:     The fourth one has never played in the postseason.
A.        
-  Satchel Paige           09-Jul-1948 @ age 42 years, 2 days
-  Ichiro Suzuki 04-Oct-2015 @ age 40 years, 347 days
-  Rick Dempsey          02-Jul-1991 @ age 41 years, 288 days
-  Diomedes Olivo       05-Sep-1960 @ 41 years, 227 days
In addition to John’s 4, readers found:
-  Ken Takahashi         02-May-2009 @ 40 years, 16 days
- Lena Blackburn         05-Jun-1929 @ 42 years, 224 days
FCR -  No one got them all.
Incorrect answers: 

WEDNESDAY #2  Dave MacEntee (AKA Bapplepie) Jacksonville, North Carolina wants to know if we can …
Q.        … name this former MVP winner?
Hint:     His first five seasons in the majors was mostly as an outfielder.
Hint:     He won two Gold Gloves in his career, but neither was for his work in the outfield.
Hint:     The season he won the MVP he led his team in home runs.
Hint:     He was runner-up for the batting title once, but not his MVP season.
A.         ELSTON HOWARD
-  1955-1959:  263 G @ OF; 177 G @ C; 57 G @ 1b
-  GG’s 1963, 1964 Played only C those seasons.
-  His 28 HR’s in 1963 topped Mantle’s & Maris’ totals of 15 and 23 respectively. (…but so did Pepitone’s 27 and Tresh’s 25.)
-  Batted .348, 2nd to Norm Cash’s .361, his career high by 75 points, but Howard’s 1961 average was his career high by 34 points.
FCR -  Steve Berman, Bergenfield, New Jersey
Incorrect answers:  Larry Walker, Robin Yount, Willie McCovey, Ken Boyer

IN MEMORIAM (A question outside of this week’s theme of reader participation.)

Q.        Who was the first Phillies manager to win a World Series title?
Hint:     He is the only non-Hall of Famer to manage both the Yankees and Mets.
Hint:     As Cubs GM he pushed for lights to be installed at Wrigley Field.  They went up the year after he resigned.
Hint:     The award for "meritorious service by a player or member of the Phillies organization" bears his name.
Hint:     Back when he pitched in the majors, he surrendered Jimmy Piersall's 100th career homer, after which Piersall memorably ran the bases facing backward.
A.         DALLAS GREEN
-  Managed NYY 1989; managed NYM 1993 to 1996.  Hall of Famers Casey Stengel, Yogi Berra & Joe Torre each also managed both.
Wrigley lights installed in 1988, Green had resigned in 1987.
-  He was inducted into (onto?) the Philadelphia Phillies Wall of Fame in 2006.
FCR -  Kellen Nielson, Blanding, Utah
Incorrect answers: 

MIDWEEK BONUS  Trivia maven Rich Klein dug through his files to come up with this dandy:
Q.        The Cleveland Indians played the 1st games at the new Camden Yards in 1992. Only one player on their roster was earning $1 million. Name that player.
A.         FELIX FERMIN
FCR -  Edward Masone, New York City
Incorrect answers:  Albert Belle, Brook Jacoby, Manny Ramirez, Cal Ripken, C.C. Sabathia, Carlos Baerga, Rick Sutcliff

THURSDAY  John Robertson from Cambridge, Ontario submitted this multi-part gem:

Q.        The last man to come to bat in the 1969 World Series was a future MLB manager.  Similarly, in the 1970 World Series, the last man to come to bat was another future MLB manager.  (In fact, the last man to bat in the 1970 World Series was pinch hitting for another future MLB manager!)  Name all three men.
A.         1969 DAVEY JOHNSON; 1970 PAT CORRALES batted for HAL McRAE.
FCR -  Dr. Richard A. Marston, Newport Beach
Incorrect answers:  Woody Woodward, Frank Robinson, Johnny Oates

FRIDAY: Phillip Hertz, North Bethesda, Maryland, thinks this one will sneak up on us:
Q.        Besides old, renovated and new Yankee Stadium, the Polo Grounds, Ebbets Field, Shea Stadium and CitiField, name the other venue in the New York City area to host regular season MLB games in the last 70 years.
Hint:    After Jackie Robinson signed with the Dodgers, his first game was played here.
Hint:     This stadium has a strong connection to Cuba.
Hint:     It's doubly Presidential.
Robinson's first game with the Montreal Royals was there.
-  The stadium bears the name of two presidents (It was named for FDR.)
FCR -  Rich Lerner, Silver Spring, Maryland
Incorrect answers:  Ruppert Stadium, Newark, NJ; Newark Stadium; Yale; Downing Stadium; Washington Park; Yale Bowl

FRIDAY #2  Lyle Spatz, SABR veteran in Boynton Beach, Florida, is optimistic that we might be able to...
Q.        Name the four sets of pitchers who pitched under the same name and each won 100 or more major league games.
Hint:     Only major league victories count.
Hint:     First and last names, as used in the majors, must match exactly.
Hint:     Nicknames are irrelevant here.
A.        
DUTCH LEONARD (1913-1925) 139-114
   DUTCH LEONARD (1933-1953) 191-181

JACK TAYLOR (1891-1899) 120-117
   JACK TAYLOR (1898-1907) 152-139

SAM JONES (1914-1935) 229-217
   SAM JONES (1951-1964) 102-101

BILL LEE (1934-1947) 169-157
   BILL LEE (1969-1982) 119-90
FCR – Walt Cherniak, Woodbine, Maryland 
Incorrect answers: 

FRIDAY #3 Steve Siani of Columbia, Maryland has found history’s longest documented major league at-bat, measured by number of pitches thrown.  He asks
Q.        Who was the batter and who was the pitcher?
Hint:     The pitcher is a former Cy Young Award winner and was still active in 2016.
Hint:     The batter retired after 12 years in the majors.
Hint:     It took place in a stadium that has thrice hosted the World Series, but saw its name change between its 2nd and 3rd Fall Classic.
A.         On 26-Jun-1998 at Progressive Field (né Jacobs), RICKY GUTIERREZ led off the top of the 8th with a 20-pitch AB strikeout. BARTOLO COLON finished the inning with 28 pitches... 112 for the game, 82 of them strikes.
FCR -  Larry Hayes, San Francisco
Incorrect answers:  Jake Peavy

SATURDAY Billy Hays from Herrin, Illinois asks us:
Q.        Who has won the World Series with both the Cubs and Red Sox?
A.         -  JON LESTER (BOS 2007, BOS 2013, CHC 2016)
FCR -  Mike McCroskey, Sugar Land, Texas
Incorrect answers: 

SUNDAY  This question doesn’t have a particular author, but so many people have asked me it over the years that it seems appropriate to include this week.
BTW, If you are sitting on a favorite question, now is the time to send it in.
Q.        Name the starting eight Whiz Kids.
-  2b MIKE GOLIAT
-  3b WILLIE JONES
-  LF DICK SISLER
-  RF DEL ENNIS
Only Sisler had more than the same exact 4 postseason games in their careers.  And he merely had those + 2.
FCR -  Bradley Curtis, Roseville, California
Incorrect answers: 

SUNDAY #2    Greg Langlois from San Leandro, California wrote in with this one:

Q.        What Hall of Famer and former National League batting champion was once traded for two players who both later committed suicide after their playing days?
Hint:     He holds the record with 6 extra-base hits in a doubleheader.
Hint:     His poor eyesight varied so much day-to-day that he kept 3 different pairs of eyeglasses with him at all times.
Hint:     He won his only batting title by edging (yea, nosing) out another future Hall of Famer by a minuscule 0.0007.
A.         CHICK HAFEY        
-  Traded to CIN from STL for Harvey Hendrick  and Benny Frey  who later—after their playing days—each took his own life (Hendrick - gunshot, and Frey - carbon monoxide poisoning)
-  Six EBH 28-Jul-1928 Game 1 (2 doubles and a homer); Game 2 (2 doubles and a homer and 2 singles for good measure)
-  Beat out Bill Terry for the 1931 NL batting title .3489 to .3486.  The year before, Terry had hit .401, the last National Leaguer to hit .400.
FCR -  Chaunce Venuto, Tooele, Utah
Incorrect answers:  Lloyd Waner, Ernie Lombardi

SUNDAY #3  Horsehide Trivia partner T. Scott Brandon in Port Angeles, Washington asks us this about his favorite TNFOTO player:
Q.        Who, in 1929, did Hall of Fame manager John McGraw call “The future catching star of the National League”?
Hint:     Rogers Hornsby, managing the Braves, said he was the top young catcher in the NL.
Hint:     McGraw was trying to obtain him at the time of his unfortunate demise.
Hint:     He called his favorite defensive move the “Cigar store Indian play”.
Hint:     George Sisler was denied a base hit once when he used that ploy.
A.         WALTER “Peck” LERIAN
TNFOTO = “Through No Fault Of Their Own”.  Lerian was killed in a freak traffic accident in his hometown of Baltimore at age 26.  He had played for only two years in the majors, both for the Phillies.
-  Cigar Store Indian play was a decoy to make a runner believe the fielder didn’t have the ball or even much interest in the play before suddenly producing the ball and tagging the runner out.  Used on Sisler 29-May-1928.
-  Do yourself a favor and read Scott’s SABR Bio of Lerian.  Scott’s research was so thorough that he is still close friends with some of Lerian’s relatives’ descendants.
FCR -  Jeff Kallman, Las Vegas
Incorrect answers:  Bill DeLancey, Moe Berg, Mel Ott, Frank Place, Elon Chester “Chief” Hogsett, Spud Davis, Willard Hershberger, Gabby Hartnett

SUNDAY #4 Barrister Phil Hochberg puts this one before the Horsehide Trivia jury:           
Q.        What pitcher wore the name of his home town on the back of his jersey?
Hint:     He was the last rookie to log more than 300 innings pitched in his rookie season.
Hint:     No pitcher received more MVP votes than he did that year.
Hint:     Braves fans sometimes got him instead of rain.
A.         BILL VOISELLE
-  Hailed from the city of Ninety-Six, South Carolina
-  Threw 312.2 innings in 1944
-  Was on the other side of “Spahn and Sain then pray for rain.”
FCR -  Larry Creeden, Boulder City, Nevada
Incorrect answers:  Johnny Sain, Vern Bickford, Warren Spahn, Vinegar Bend Mizell

SUNDAY #5  Tom Missett of Southington, Connecticut follows with another uniform-based question…
Q.        What player wore his birthday on the back of his uniform?
Hint:     He and his brother were both All-Stars in the majors, in fact, they were the first brothers to face each other in All-Star competition.
Hint:     He finished 3rd in Rookie-of-the-Year voting.
Hint:     Is this hint trivial?  You be the judge:  He was the first player to pinch-hit for a DH in a World Series game.
A:         CARLOS MAY
Wore #17.  He was born 17-May-1948.
-  Brother Lee May and he were on opposing teams in the 1969 ASG.
-  Pinch-hit for Lou Piniella WS game 1, 16-Oct-1976 8th inning
FCR -  Bill Carle, Lee’s Summit, Missouri
Incorrect answers:  Lee May, Joe DiMaggio, George Brett, the Alomar brothers

SUNDAY #6  New York’s Stuart Greenwald, trying unsuccessfully not to boast, writes us with this:
Q.        This man is my college classmate and led our basketball team in scoring. He was named player of the year.
Hint:     His number was the first to be retired in a long list of retired numbers of some of the greatest basketball players ever who performed at our alma mater. The present coach is legendary.
Hint:     Even better at baseball, he was a leader for two different teams that defeated the Yankees in two World Series.
Hint:     His picture graced the back cover of the 1961 issue of “Who’s Who in Baseball”.
A:         DICK GROAT
Helms Foundation 1952 College Basketball POY
-  Duke Basketball retired jersey numbers:
10 - Dick Groat                1952
25 - Art Heyman              1990
44 - Jeff Mullins               1994
43 - Mike Gminski            1980
24 - Johnny Dawkins       1986
35 - Danny Ferry             1989
32 - Christian Laettner     1992
11 - Bobby Hurley           1993
33 - Grant Hill                  1994
31 - Shane Battier           2001
22 - Jason Williams         2003
23 - Shelden Williams     2007
  4 - J.J. Redick                2007
1960 WS PIT over NYY; 1964 WS STL over NYY
-  1961 w/1960 NL MVP “Who’s Who in Baseball” back coverRoger Maris was on the front as the 1960 AL MVP.
FCR – Chuck Durante, Dover, Delaware
Incorrect answers:  Tom Butters

SUNDAY #7  The redoubtable Paul Haas of Springfield, Virginia (with suspect motives) asks,
Q.        Name the two future Hall of Fame pitchers who were traded for each other.
Hint:     At the time of the trade, one of them had never yet won a major league game.
Hint:     The other never won another major league game after the trade.
Hint:     The younger player was later traded with 2 future Hall of Famers back to his original team.
A.         AMOS RUSIE & CHRISTY MATHEWSON
-  Traded straight across 15-Dec-1900.
-  Rusie’s career w/l record is 246-174 Mathewson’s is 373-188.
-  Mathewson traded with Bill McKechnie and Edd Roush to the Cincinnati Reds for Buck Herzog and Red Killefer 20-Jun-1916.
FCR -  Stephen Klatsky, Washington, DC
Incorrect answers: 

SUNDAY #8  Alex Poterak from Providence (Not Bruce Fleming) asked one of my favorites.
Q.        Who are the major leaguers who hit home runs before they turned 20 and after they turned 40?
Hint:     Only one is a Hall of Famer, and he was the only member of the club for nearly 60 years.
Hint:     A majority of them played for the Detroit Tigers.
Hint:     The answer used to be all fruity, but has grown.
A.
TY COBB (“The Georgia Peach”)
      B. 18-Dec-1886; HR’s 23-Sep-05 & 16-May-1928
RUSTY STAUB (“Le Grand Orange”)
      B. 01-Apr-1944; HR;s 03-Jun-1963 & 22-Jun-1985
GARY SHEFFIELD (“Sheff”)
      B. 18-Nov-1968; HR’s 09-Sep-1988 & 29-Jun-2009
ALEX RODRIGUEZ (“A-Rod”)
      B. 27-Jul-1975; HR’s 12-Jun-1995 & 18-Jul-2016
FCR -  Vince Granieri, Cincinnati
Incorrect answers:  Ken Griffey, Jr.

SUNDAY #9  Bruce Fleming from Cleveland, Tennessee sent in this:
Q.        Who is the only player to hit .400 or better with 40 or more home runs, and have 150 or more RBIs, all in the same season?
Hint:     Besides leading his league in these three categories, the same year he also led his league in hits, doubles and runs scored.
Hint:     In his only World Series as a manager, his team came out as Champions, making the final putout himself.
A.         ROGERS HORNSBY
-  He had a pretty good year with STL in 1922:  hit .401 with 42 home runs and 152 RBI.
-  Also had 250 H, 46 2b & 141 R.
-  It should be noted that he also led the league in OBP w/.459, then led majors (not just the NL) in SLG w/.722, OPS w/1.181, OPS+ w/207 & TB w/450.
1926, tagged out Babe Ruth trying to steal in the 9th inning of Game 7 to give the Cards their first ever World Series Championship.
FCR -  Morris Buenemann, Florissant, Missouri
Incorrect answers:  Hack Wilson, George Sisler

SUNDAY #10 Roslyn Brown from Columbia, Maryland thinks we ought to know this guy:
Q:        What baseball author and philanthropist has caught more than 9,000 baseballs before, during and after major league games?
Hint:     He once caught a baseball dropped from more than 1,000 feet.
Hint:     He holds official world records on half a dozen classic video games including Breakout (896 points) and Arkanoid (1,658,110 points).
A.         ZACK HAMPLE
-  Don’t miss this video.
-  …or this one.
-  …or this one.
-  or any of Zack’s videos.
-  As for his being a philanthropist, thus quoth Wiki: Charity Work
Since 2009, Hample has been raising money for Pitch in for Baseball, a non-profit charity that provides baseball and softball equipment to underprivileged children all over the world.  With help from his fans, who pledge money for every baseball that he snags at Major League stadiums, and from BIGS Sunflower Seeds, who sponsored him during the 2013 season, Hample raised more than $190,000 through the 2016 season. In July 2015, Hample gave Alex Rodriguez the ball from his 3,000th hit in exchange for the Yankees donating $150,000 to Pitch In For Baseball.
FCR -  Charlie O’Reilly, Rutherford, New Jersey
[Roslyn responded:  “Woo hoo!  I’m published!”]
Incorrect answers:  Gabby Street, Bill Terry, George Plimpton, Bob Uecker, Bill Nowlin, D. Bruce Brown,

SUNDAY #11 [Last one]  This rather prolix entry comes to us from Phil Ross in Denver.
BACKGROUND: In a 1970s magazine article, a SABR member, a then full-time sportswriter, unofficially dubbed a 2,000-mile long U.S. Highway (not an Interstate, but numbered odd or even to signify whether its direction was north/south or east/west) as “The Royal Road of the All-Star First Basemen.” This was because the cross-country highway offered a lifeline to many small towns in its seven-state path, including the hometowns of two All-Star first basemen – one AL, the other NL -- whose careers paralleled each other’s through portions of the ’50s and ’60s.
Q.        1.) What is the still-existing highway number?  2.) Why is it odd or even? and 3.-4.) Who were the two late players?
Hint:     One batted and threw righty, the other was southpaw all the way around.
Hint:     Each was a college standout in a sport other than baseball.
Hint:     Even though both were selected as All-Stars – four times and once, respectively – neither achieved the Hall of Fame, and, despite consistently impressive stats in several categories, their accomplishments were eclipsed by outfield, infield (in one case) and pitching teammates who were HOF inductees.
Hint:     In his best year, one led his league in BA, OPS, OBP, Hits and IBB, and belted a career-high 41 HR, yet finished only fourth in MVP voting, his highest MVP showing in six MVP races. He went deep 377 times in his 17-year MLB career, all but two seasons with one franchise.
Hint:     You could easily say that one of the two players was “like money in the bank.”
A.         U.S. 84, which begins in Georgia and runs through AL, MS, LA, TX and NM before reaching its terminus at Pagosa Springs, CO. It has an even number because it technically is an east/west route.
NORM CASH, LH who had a breakout year with Detroit Tigers in ’61, was a football TB for two Texas colleges – Angelo State and Sul Ross State, and hit the 377 MLB HR. Tiger HOF teammates inducted as players were OF Al Kaline, 3b Eddie Mathews and RHP Jim Bunning.  Earlier with CHW, Luis Aparicio, Early Wynn and Nellie Fox had been teammates. U.S. 84 runs through his hometown of Post, Texas.
JOE ADCOCK, RH, Milwaukee Braves, who was an LSU hoops star and made one ASG.  HOF teammates inducted as players were OF Hank Aaron, *3B Eddie Mathews, OF Enos Slaughter, IF Red Schoendienst and LHP Warren Spahn. U.S. 84 runs through his hometown of Coushatta, LA.
FCR -  James Blessing, Carmel, Indiana
Incorrect answers:  I-70, US-380, Bill White

WEEKLY THEME – Reader-submitted question helping celebrate Horsehide Trivia’s 20 consecutive years of operation.

First Correct Respondent to Identify ThemeEverybody!